Spain's Jose Zapatero cowers to terrorism and closes eyes to light at the end of European tunnel-vision; Bob Woodward and Mike Wallace unwittingly commit self-parody in 60 Minutes interview mocking faith; Edward R. Murrow rolls over in grave; John Kerry straddles growing ideological divide; Re Saudi oil, Kerry's nuances are slicker than oil.

April 19, 2004: #01 Political Satire/Commentary where satire is always commentary but commentary isn't always satire ™·2004.
(but we're confident you'll know the difference) Search PoliSat.Com Home Tell a friend about PoliSat.Com Subscribe
Permanent Link to this installment in PoliSat.Com's Archives Google-News list of recent updates About author, Jim Wrenn.

Spain's Jose Zapatero cowers to terrorism and closes eyes to light at the end of European tunnel-vision; Bob Woodward and Mike Wallace unwittingly commit self-parody in "60 Minutes" interview mocking faith; Edward R. Murrow rolls over in grave; John Kerry straddles growing ideological divide; Re Saudi oil, Kerry's nuances are slicker than oil.·

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Zapatero, Bob Woodward, Mike Wallace, the Deniacs and Naderites strengthen appeasement and mock steadfastness. Al Qaeda and anti-freedom forces in Iraq take comfort in desertion and derision of George Bush. Meanwhile, John Kerry floats "nuances" in policy towards OPEC that are slicker than oil from Saudi Arabia.

Spain's Capitulation.

Spain's decision to accelerate its appeasement of al Qaeda (by accelerating withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq) shows the Socialist Prime Minister, José Zapatero, has decided to abruptly reverse course in the tunnel from which other European critics of our war on terror seemed to be on the verge of emerging. Spain's appeasement temporarily sated its hunger for security by eliciting a public announcement from terrorist "leaders" urging their followers to abstain from terrorist actions against Spain. Like a merchant intimidated by the mob from cooperating with police and thereby making himself a permanent hostage to the mob, Spain's cowering in the face of terrorist threats is strengthening and emboldening the terrorists. If the Brits during the Battle of Britain were to have exhibited the same worship of security over freedom, the Nazis would be ruling Europe today.

John Kerry's straddle of widening ideological divide will require painful stretching.

Another effect of the March 11, 2004, attack on Spain inducing Spain's desertion of civilization's war on Islamic Fascism in the face of its barbaric attack on Spain appears to have been to strengthen the appeasement wing of the Democratic Party and widen the ideological gap John Kerry must try to straddle. The Entertainment-Left/Deniac/Nader-Sympathizing wing of the Democratic Party is beginning to pressure Kerry to adopt a "get out of Iraq regardless of the consequences" rather than claiming to have a plan to somehow stiffen the spine of uncooperative European allies to help us achieve a successful result in Iraq. Teddy Kennedy's attempt to cast Iraq as "another Vietnam" unwittingly casts Kerry as "Nixon" following "Johnson" rather than as Carter succeeding Nixon/Ford by claiming, inter alia, that our Vietnam-Era foreign policy suffered from an "inordinate fear of Communism." The Entertainment-Left/Deniac/Nader/Kennedy wing of the Democratic Party seems to naively but genuinely believe our post-Cold-War foreign policy suffers an "inordinate fear of terrorism."

Mike Wallace and Bob Woodard unwittingly perform self-parody on 60 Minutes; Edward R. Murrow rolls over in grave.

Watching yesterday's 60 Minutes broadcast of Mike Wallace's interview of Bob Woodward to promote his book, Plan of Attack, shows how radically the dominant media has departed from the traditions of the CBS icon, Edward R. Murrow. To recognize the radical extent of the change, imagine Murrow interviewing a "literary establishment" author of a book purporting to describe war-waging strategies of Franklin Roosevelt and/or Dwight Eisenhower.

Would such author have employed a tone and manner to imply something sinister about a Commander in Chief's having ordered development of contingency plans for a war-fighting strategy to make such option ready for implementation without delay when, and if, it were to be needed? Of course not. Even if such author were to have done so, would Murrow have made "faces" to express agreement with such implications? More likely, Murrow would have expressed astonishment at the offensive absurdity of such implication.

In explaining that tears welled in the eyes of a Commander in Chief and/or military commander at the moment of issuing orders certain to lead to the losses of lives of those under his command, would such author have done so in a manner to mock such decision-maker's fitness for making such decision? Even if such author were to have done so, would Murrow have made "faces" expressing agreement with such derision?

In describing such leader's assertion that he prayed for Divine guidance in the hope that the decision he was making would be morally sound as well as strategically effective, would such author have smugly portrayed such action as manifestation of the decision-maker's intellectual inferiority and/or delusional perception of himself as "doing the will of God"? Even if such author were to have done so, would Murrow have made "faces" smugly expressing disdain for such manifestation of the leader's desire to be moral, rather than immoral? Would such author and/or Murrow have mocked the prayer Dwight Eisenhower recited before the Normandy invasion? (FYI, I'm a non-believer, but, unlike Secular Fundamentalists, I don't construe the humility of introspective prayer for moral guidance as a sign of intellectual or moral inferiority.)

In explaining that a Commander in Chief and/or military commander chose a strategy strongly opposed by some of his subordinates and strongly favored by others, would such author have tried to cast such decision in a sinister light or imply the existence of disagreement among subordinates somehow intrinsically invalidated selection of a strategy strongly opposed by some and strongly supported by others? Would Murrow have made "faces" to express agreement with such view? Would they mock the prayers of troops facing battle as they risk their lives to protect the freedoms of Woodward, Wallace and other "intellectuals" to mock such faith?

Apoplectic Intellectualism.

In any other context, do Democrats express contempt for those not seeking to be, and not craving approval of, intellectuals? How many tyrants have been toppled by intellectual posturing? In the 1980's, intellectuals smugly mocked the un-intellectualism of Ronald Reagan in doggedly rejecting their "wisdom" in claiming unilateral nuclear freezes, rather than intensified deterrence, would persuade the Soviet Union to abandon its totalitarian grip on its own people and those of Eastern Europe, yet it was Reagan's dogged insistence on intensification of deterrence that ultimately induced the Soviets to relent. In the 1980's, intellectuals smugly mocked Reagan for describing totalitarian Communism an "Evil Empire" destined for the "dust-bin of history," yet it was Reagan's un-intellectual vision that history proved right. In the 1980's, intellectuals smugly mocked Reagan for standing at the Brandenburg Gate and demanding "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," yet history proved his making such demand at that time dramatically strengthened the moral tide rising in Eastern Europe against Soviet totalitarianism.

John Kerry's nuances: Slicker than oil from Saudi Arabia.

Finally, remember John Kerry's recent demand that Bush ought to "pressure" Saudi Arabia to increase supplies of oil in order to reduce the price? So, what might one expect to be Kerry's response to Bob Woodward's claim yesterday on 60 Minutes (and in his book he's peddling) that the Saudis had agreed to accommodate Bush's demands for increased supplies to lower prices? Condemnation, of course, followed by an effort to explain the "nuances" of being in favor of pressuring the Saudis to increase prices but not in favor of such success occurring at a time disadvantageous to Kerry.

--Jim Wrenn, Editor at PoliSat.Com.

Daily Update immediately preceding the one above.

Recent Political Satire/Commentary Animations-- Click image to play. More: Text-Index/Images-Index.

Donate your frequent-flier miles to military personnel to return home from port of reentry on leave: www.HeroMiles.Org.

·support our troops, support Bush, support Cheney, support victory in Iraq, support victory in Afghanistan, Clinton Liebrary, http://PoliSat.Com , PoliSatDOTcom, Salute America's Heroes, Fallen Heroes Fund, oppose Gore's Global Warming theory, support milblogs, Michael Yon, Pat Dollard, BlackFive, MilBlogs, MilBlogging, Michael Yon, Mudville Gazette, HotAir.Com, JawaReport, PajamasMedia , VictoryCaucus , VetsForFreedom , FreedomsWatch , DayByDayCartoon , WrennCom.Com , Video , Political Satire, Politics, News, oppose MoveOn.Org, oppose Code Pink, oppose DailyKos, oppose ANSWER, support PoliSat.Com, support WrennCom.Com, ·

First Things First: Salute America's Heroes · Fallen Heroes Fund · Frequent-Flyer-Miles for Troops · Thanks to Troops · Military News ·· MilBlogs ·

Home · Posts: Current /Recent · Videos/Toons/Songs: Latest · Embed-Codes · Text Index · Images Index · Archives: Old · New · About · Contact · Syndication · Affiliates ·

News Sources/Papers/Magazines Pundits Blogs ThinkTanks What is "property"? Pantheopians Global Climate Asteroids/Comets Hitting Earth--Risks/Predictions Science GlobalWeb

Other sites that feature PoliSat.Com's Political Satire/Commentary-- Click here to view our Affiliates page.